1923 FA Cup final


The 1923 FA Cup final was an association football match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on 28 April 1923 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, it was the first football match to be played at Wembley Stadium. King George V was in attendance to present the trophy to the winning team.
Each team had progressed through five rounds to reach the final. Bolton Wanderers won 1–0 in every round from the third onwards, and David Jack scored the lone goal each time. West Ham United faced opposition from the Second Division or lower in each round, the first time this had occurred since the introduction of multiple divisions in the Football League. West Ham took three attempts to defeat Southampton in the fourth round but then easily defeated Derby County in the semi-final, scoring five goals.
The final was preceded by chaotic scenes as vast crowds surged into the stadium, far exceeding its official capacity of approximately 125,000. A crowd estimated at up to 300,000 gained entrance and the terraces overflowed, with the result that many spectators found their way into the area around the pitch and even onto the playing area itself. Mounted policemen, including one on a grey horse which featured in the defining photographic image of the day, had to be brought in to clear the crowds from the pitch and allow the match to take place. The match began 45 minutes late as the vast crowd was shepherded by police to clear the pitch and stand around the perimeter. Although West Ham started strongly, Bolton proved the dominant team for most of the match and won 2–0. David Jack scored a goal two minutes after the start of the match and Jack Smith added a controversial second goal during the second half.
The pre-match overcrowding prompted discussion in the House of Commons and led to the introduction of safety measures for future finals. The match is often referred to as the "White Horse Final" and is commemorated by the White Horse Bridge at the new Wembley Stadium.

Route to the final

RoundOppositionScore
1stNorwich City 2–0
2ndLeeds United 3–1
3rdHuddersfield Town 1–1
3rdHuddersfield Town 1–0
4thCharlton Athletic 1–0
Semi-finalSheffield United 1–0

Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United were playing in the First Division and Second Division respectively, and both entered the competition at the first round stage, under the tournament format in place at the time. Bolton had appeared in the final twice before, in 1894 and 1904, but West Ham, who had only joined The Football League in 1919, had never previously progressed further than the quarter finals. In the first round, Bolton defeated Norwich City of the Third Division South, in the process recording the club's first away win in the competition since a second round victory over Manchester City in the 1904–05 season. After a home win over Leeds United in the second round, Bolton faced one of the First Division's top teams, Huddersfield Town, in the third round. The initial match at Huddersfield's Leeds Road ground ended in a draw, necessitating a replay which Bolton won 1–0. In the fourth round Bolton defeated Charlton Athletic by a single goal, and in the semi-final beat Sheffield United by the same score in a match played at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. Although ticket prices were considered to be extremely high, a crowd of 72,000 attended the match, a new record for an FA Cup semi-final. The conditions at the semi-final foreshadowed the more extreme condition that followed at Wembley. Old Trafford was dangerously overcrowded, with spectators spilling over onto the touchline, and a disaster was only prevented by the good nature of the crowd.
In every match from the third round onwards, Bolton's single goal was scored by David Jack, which gave him a reputation for having single-handedly steered his team into the final.
RoundOppositionScore
1stHull City 3–2
2ndBrighton & Hove Albion 1–1
2ndBrighton & Hove Albion 1–0
3rdPlymouth Argyle 2–0
4thSouthampton 1–1
4thSouthampton 1–1
4thSouthampton 1–0
Semi-finalDerby County 5–2

In contrast to Bolton's defensive style, West Ham's cup run was characterised by fast-moving, attacking play, which won them many admirers. The London-based club began the competition away to fellow Second Division team Hull City and won 3–2. In the second round they were held to a draw by Brighton & Hove Albion of the Third Division South, but won the replay 1–0 at home. The "Hammers" defeated another Third Division South team, Plymouth Argyle, in the third round, but found the fourth round tough going against Southampton. The first match at West Ham's home, the Boleyn Ground, ended in a 1–1 draw, as did the replay at The Dell in Southampton. A second replay was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, home of Aston Villa, and finally produced a winner, as West Ham won 1–0 with a goal from Billy Brown. The goal came in the 70th minute, with a "clever free kick" past the "startled" Herbert Lock in the Saints' goal. In the semi-finals, West Ham took on Derby County at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea, and won 5–2. Brown scored two more goals and Billy Moore also scored twice.
All five of the teams that West Ham defeated on their way to Wembley played in the Second Division or lower. This made West Ham the first team since the introduction of multiple divisions in The Football League to reach the FA Cup final without facing opposition from the top division. Bolton played their last league match of the season on 21 April, and although West Ham had two matches left to play of their Second Division campaign, they also had a week’s rest from football before the cup final. Both teams rested and took the opportunity to prepare by visiting brine baths, Bolton going to baths at Northwich and West Ham to Southend.

Build-up

Number of spectators

The total number of people in attendance is not known; the official attendance was 126,047, but estimates of the actual number of fans in attendance range from 150,000 to the official Police estimate of just under 300,000, with other estimates putting it higher than 300,000. The 126,047 official attendance at Wembley is below the 173,850 official attendance of the Brazil v Uruguay World Cup match at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1950. The official attendance statistic for the game in Rio is the official world record. Some of the unofficial estimates for the Wembley match are higher than even the unofficial estimates for the game at the Maracanã, which range up to 210,000.

The match was the first event of any kind to take place at Wembley Stadium, which had not been due to open until 1924 but was completed ahead of schedule. After sub-capacity crowds had attended the first three finals after the First World War at Stamford Bridge, The Football Association was unconvinced that the match could fill the large capacity of the new stadium and undertook a major advertising campaign, for fans to attend. Despite these fears, the new national stadium, which had been advertised as the greatest venue of its kind and had an unprecedented capacity of 125,000, proved to be a great lure and drew a large number of casual observers. The fact that a London-based team was competing meant that many football fans from all parts of the city chose to attend. The morning newspapers on the day of the match reported that around 5,000 fans were travelling from Bolton and that they were expected to be joined by "at least 115,000 enthusiasts from London and other parts of the country". The easy accessibility of the stadium by public transport and the fine weather were also factors which contributed to the enormous crowd.
Many travelled by train with London Underground selling more than 241,000 tickets from stations within London to Wembley, but that figure does not cover those who travelled without a ticket and those who reached the stadium by road or on foot. The London buses were overwhelmed with the controller of the London General Omnibus Company describing the situation as "absolutely abnormal" and in the East End, the worst affected area, as "absolutely terrific", while large crowds, possibly tens of thousands, walked ten to fifteen miles or more each way from east to west London.
Significant numbers of Bolton supporters made their way from Lancashire to Wembley, including five fans who used the Daimler Hire plane service from Manchester Aerodrome to London, with most of the remainder coming by train. Bolton fans headed to the West End to celebrate after the game, with Piccadilly Circus impassable to traffic for a time due to the number of revellers.
As well as West Ham and Bolton fans, there were many people from other parts of the capital who wished to support the London underdog. Of the eleven supporters kept in overnight at the Willesden Hospital four were from Bow, Poplar, Wapping and Walthamstow in East London, four from other parts of London, two from northern England, and one from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire.
Among the supporters was a Pathé News cameraman disguised as a West Ham supporter. Pathe's bid had failed to win the rights to film the event, but they sent a disguised cameraman anyway, wearing fake spectacles, a false moustache and carrying a camera hidden in a large cardboard hammer. Many of the day's moving images were taken among the crowds in this way.